A wireless device attempting to establish communication with a wireless communication network can send a request for a communication channel to an access node. The access node typically uses a procedure to allocate wireless link resources to the requesting wireless device, such as a random access procedure, which allocates wireless link resources on a request or need basis rather than establishing dedicated wireless link resources for the wireless device. A random access procedure can be used in a variety of circumstances, such as when a wireless device initiates communication when it comes out of a lower power or idle state, when a wireless device is attempting to re-establish a lost or temporarily dropped connection, when the wireless device is handed over to a second access node, or when data is available to be transferred between the access node and the wireless device.
Overview
In operation, a first plurality of random access preambles and a second plurality of random access preambles are stored at an access node. A random access channel request is received from a wireless device at the access node, the random access channel request comprising an application type of an application running on the wireless device. A network load, a priority class of the wireless device, and a mobility of the wireless device are determined. When the first plurality of random access preambles is not exhausted, the network load meets a load criteria, the priority class of the wireless device meets a priority criteria, the mobility of the wireless device meets a mobility criteria, and the application type of the application meets an application criteria, a random access preamble is assigned to the wireless device from the first plurality of random access preambles.